Employee Wellbeing: Everything You Need to Know

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The most important thing you need to know about employee wellbeing is that it’s important. The end.

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Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that, and this blog post will offer a more comprehensive view of workplace wellbeing. However, the sentiment remains! Employee wellbeing is essential for every business, regardless of its size and is among the most impactful factors when it comes to productivity, efficiency, job satisfaction and much more.

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So, what do you need to know about wellbeing at work? The first step is recognising how truly vital it is and the impact it has on everyone working for the company. Beyond this, there are several ways to improve awareness and support by investing time, energy and money into resources and tools designed to benefit wellbeing. This post will discuss employee wellbeing and everything an employer needs to know to encourage best practices.

Identifying Stress Triggers is a Game-Changer

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Stress and anxiety are arguably the biggest threat to wellbeing in any environment, not just work. No matter how much you love your job, there are times when stress can make it significantly harder to be productive and focused, let alone happy. And while stress is often a product of hard work, pressure and being invested in your job— stress shouldn’t be commonplace at work, or something employees experience regularly.

For this reason, a key part of employee wellbeing is identifying stress triggers within the workplace. Examples include excessive workloads, poor leadership, insufficient training, commuting and job security. But these are typical examples and may not apply to your workplace, so it’s essential to speak to your employees and learn more about their struggles. A great way to do this is with anonymous surveys, as it gets you honest answers without making people feel as if they might be punished for speaking up.

Once you have identified the areas of the business or the scenarios that cause people the most stress, it’s vital to work closely with your team to find solutions. Doing so shows that you’re an employer who cares about their employees and is prepared to take action when things aren’t working.

Create a Work-Based Support Network

At times, many of us have felt lonely and unsupported at work, especially in instances where we need help and guidance. These feelings can make you feel stressed and unhappy and severely impact your confidence and mental health. Therefore, one of the most important things to know about employee wellbeing is that every workplace needs a support network. Without support, employees can suffer on a personal and professional level due to feelings of helplessness and issues that continue to hinder their life.

Many businesses incorporate wellbeing responsibilities and initiatives into their HR departments, as the people in these teams often possess the necessary training and experience to deal with various relevant issues. Plus, it offers employees an opportunity to discuss their problems with staff members who they may not work with every day and also those that have the best interests of employees at heart.

However, if you would like to create a support network that inhabits every area of the office, you may want to look at wellbeing training courses and exercises. This equips more individuals with the tools and knowledge needed to be a real benefit to their colleagues. But it also offers an opportunity for growth on a human level by increasing awareness, empathy, and consideration for the many ways people struggle.

Encourage Health, Fitness and Wellbeing

Not everyone in the office is a fitness addict. And nor should you have to be. However, many studies and mountains of data show that encouraging a healthier and fitter lifestyle can work wonders for employee wellbeing. But it’s crucial to approach it in the right way. We’ve seen it all, from workplace weight loss challenges to insane daily step requirements — none of which are effective long-term solutions. And to be honest, they tend to create competitive and judgemental environments, which we all know is never good for the workplace (or anywhere!).

Instead, businesses benefit greatly from wellbeing programmes that are actually engaging and fun, with health and fitness being a natural by product. This is key to our ethos at GoJoe and played a huge part in how we approached our app’s design. Workplace wellbeing is a core factor in the success or failure of any company, and apps that are supportive and inclusive will be a huge benefit.

Rather than bore your team to death by demanding thousands of daily steps, we ourselves opt for a great combination of team-based challenges, inclusive content, and reward-fuelled gamification. The result is a holistic wellbeing approach that creates a more social, engaged, and fun workplace. Sounds like somewhere you’d be happy to spend your working hours, right?

Don’t Forget About Job Satisfaction & Security

Employee wellbeing affects many different parts of an organisation, but job satisfaction might just be top of the list. This is because the two merge into one another quite drastically. If your wellbeing isn’t being taken care of, you naturally feel less satisfaction at work. When you’re not satisfied at work, your mental wellbeing can take a hit as a result. See the problem?

As an employer, it’s your job to ensure that your employees are satisfied and fulfilled at work. And if they’re not, it’s critical to find out why. When employees don’t feel fulfilled, it’s only a matter of time before their enthusiasm, motivation, and productivity begin to dwindle. This leads to the individual underperforming and not living up to their potential and can also be a considerable distraction and influential force on other employees.

Another big thing to consider is job security. Almost everyone will have felt the stress and concern of a lack of job security at some point. For this reason, it’s essential to recognise employees’ hard work and ensure that they know that their achievements don’t go unnoticed. It may seem minimal, but it goes a long way to improving employees’ confidence and professional ego. Otherwise, employees who feel at risk of losing their job are likely to overwork themselves — increasing stress, burnout, and other wellbeing red flags in the workplace.

Establish a Healthy Work/Life Balance

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Although the pandemic was awful and disrupted the world in more ways than anyone could’ve predicted, it did reveal a lot about traditional work structures and the benefit of flexibility. As remote work became the new norm for quite some time, it came as quite a surprise that businesses operated very effectively and, in many cases, proved to be hugely beneficial for employee wellbeing.

Even now, many companies have adopted remote or hybrid approaches to work to offer employees flexibility and an improved work/life balance. Of course, this is tough in lots of industries that require employees to be on-site at all times, but that’s not to say there isn’t a bit of ‘wiggle room’ when it comes to flexible hours. Even simple changes, such as allowing employees to work from home a few days a week, can be significant, as it will enable them to take care of their other responsibilities while balancing their work life.

If anything, it creates space in their schedule to simply breathe and allow the world to pass them by for a moment. Balancing your work and home life can be near impossible at times, and the lack of time to think or compose yourself can lead to a vast array of issues. Not to mention the impact exhaustion has on work-based attributes. If you want the best out of your employees, you need to provide a work/life that ensures flexibility and a sense of care.